


A Promised War

by aces_low



Series: The Ruby Ox and the Golden Boy [3]
Category: Real Person Fiction, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Crying, Established Relationship, Gun Violence, M/M, More interrupted sex, Murder Husbands, Possibility of domestic violence mentioned, Protective Xiao Zhan | Sean, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, mention of prostitution, possessive Xiao Zhan, protective Wang Yibo, series typical violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:26:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29339013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aces_low/pseuds/aces_low
Summary: Everyone knows the rule, now. Everyone knows that nobody can touch Wang Yibo without paying for it.But there's always a catalyst for any rule to be made.
Relationships: Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan | Sean
Series: The Ruby Ox and the Golden Boy [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2118360
Comments: 79
Kudos: 255





	A Promised War

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with more of these murder husbands because I literally can't stop myself!! 
> 
> As always, none of this is meant to be an accurate representation of Xiao Zhan or Wang Yibo or any recognizable name found in this fic.
> 
> specific warnings are listed in the bottom notes, please make sure to check those out before reading if anything you see tagged up at the top has you unsure of whether you can read this or not.
> 
> If you haven't read Ruby and Gold yet, I highly suggest reading that first. None of the add ons need to be read in any kind of order, but everything sort of revolves around Ruby and Gold, so having that as a baseline will help with understanding/caring about what is even going on.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Did you hear what happened with Bai Zhucheng and Xiao Zhan?”

“What?”

“Apparently, Bai Zhucheng sent some of his men over to Xiao Zhan’s place to ambush him a few nights ago.”

“And?”

“ _And_ one of the men showed up the next morning dead on Lǎo Bai’s doorstep, I heard he was unrecognizable he’d been beaten so bad. The rest haven’t been found.”

“What’d he go after Xiao Zhan for anyway? They’re barely in each other’s circles.”

“From what I heard, Bai Zhucheng had his eye on that new husband of his.”

“Wang Yibo?”

“Uh huh, the kid is good-looking, I’ll give them that. I’m not sure he’s worth starting a war over though.”

“Wait, so what happened to the husband then?”

“They’re saying he was asleep the whole time. I’m not sure how you sleep through your husband beating a guy to death, but what do I know? From everything I’ve heard, Wang Yibo has no idea what happened that night.”

“Do you ever feel bad for that kid? No idea what he married, no idea that this probably won’t be the last time he’s targeted. He’s in danger of everyone around him and he doesn’t even realize it.”

“Mn, but I think Xiao Zhan sent a pretty clear message with Bai’s men. His husband is off-limits.”

_Four nights earlier_

“Zhan-ge, can we at least get through the door?” Yibo asks, more amused than annoyed at his husband’s unwillingness to detach himself long enough for them to even get into the apartment. More than six months into their marriage and Xiao Zhan acts like they’re still on their honeymoon most days.

Xiao Zhan, instead of letting go for two seconds, wraps his arms tighter around Yibo’s middle and makes them do something of a spin in their doorway. They leave the door to close itself behind them as Yibo is slammed against the opposite wall. He gasps, both at the sudden impact, as well as Xiao Zhan immediately latching his mouth to the space on his shoulder that his shirt doesn’t cover.

Yibo reaches for Xiao Zhan’s belt, in the barely there space that he’s been given between their bodies, when he feels a sensation run through his spine, this one not caused by his husband’s touch. 

He opens his eyes, his gaze immediately going to the mirror in their front hallway. Yibo gasps when he sees another pair of eyes staring back at him.

“Zhan-ge,” he mutters as quietly as he can, trying to push at Xiao Zhan’s shoulders, but Xiao Zhan just grunts, and presses himself closer.

Only when Xiao Zhan moves his mouth up in order to kiss him is Yibo able to get his attention, by holding his hand up in front of his face.

Xiao Zhan blinks in confusion at Yibo’s hand, which gives Yibo enough time to grab him by the chin and direct his gaze over to the mirror as well.

Immediately, Xiao Zhan pivots on his spot, keeping himself between Yibo and the intruders. 

“Oh, don’t stop on our account,” one of the men, who is leaning against the wall next to the living room, says. “I wouldn’t mind a show before we get to it.”

“Who are you?” Xiao Zhan demands.

Yibo is able to take in just part of the scene. The man against the wall is the only one he can actually see in front of him. But through the mirror, he sees two men sitting on their couch, and one man behind the couch, holding their framed wedding photo in his hand.

Unable to see the rest of the apartment from where he his, Yibo has no idea how many more there might be, and he tries to make a mental note on where every weapon they have stored is in each room, and how he might be able to get to it before he’s intercepted by one of these men.

As Xiao Zhan’s bodyguard, Yibo isn’t exactly thrilled that he’s currently being shielded by him, but for now, he’ll let Xiao Zhan take the lead, until Yibo decides he needs to step in.

“We work for Bai Zhucheng,” the man against the wall answers.

Yibo looks to Xiao Zhan, who at least seems as confused as Yibo feels. 

“What does your boss want with me? I’ve done nothing against him.”

The man smirks. “He doesn’t want anything to do with you. It’s your husband he’s interested in.”

Yibo’s heart picks up it’s rhythm and he might be imagining it, but he thinks he can feel Xiao Zhan start to shake.

“And what does he want with my husband?” Xiao Zhan asks, voice quiet and even but the hint of anger beneath it is obvious.

Clearly, not enough to stop the man from shrugging and saying, “I guess he thinks he’s pretty. Now that I’m seeing him in person, I have to say I don’t blame him.”

Yibo grabs onto the back of Xiao Zhan’s jacket, in case he does something stupid, like tackle the man, when there are at least three others, undoubtedly with guns, ready to shoot him.

“You can tell your boss I’m not interested,” Yibo says, reaching under Xiao Zhan’s jacket, letting his hand brush along his hip.

The man laughs. 

“I know you’re new to this world, _bǎobèi_ , but you don’t tell Bai Zhucheng you’re not interested.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Yibo can see the two men on the couch finally stand up. 

“I barely know of your boss, whatever power you think he has, it’s not enough to just break into my home with the intention of taking my husband,” Xiao Zhan tells the man, anger seeping out of him.

“But you do know him, don’t you, Xiao xiānshēng? Maybe even tried some of his merchandise?”

“Bai Zhucheng is a disgusting excuse for a pimp,” Xiao Zhan says, voice clipped.

That finally wipes the smirk off the man’s face for a moment, before he shakes off the insult and smirks again, this time, his stare is more lecherous as it’s directed right at Yibo.

“Don’t worry, Xiao xiānshēng, Lǎo Bai isn’t interested in whoring out your husband, he wants to keep him for himself. Though he did promise all of us that he’d share.”

The words have their intended effect, and before Yibo can react, Xiao Zhan has launched himself at the man, punching him square in the face.

He’s only able to get one more punch in before he’s grabbed by one of the men from the living room.

“Don’t!” Yibo yells, reaching out, only to have one of the other men push him back against the wall, so unlike when Xiao Zhan had done the same thing earlier.

“Don’t worry, _xiǎo xiānròu_ , we’re not gonna hurt ya,” the man says, pressing far too close into him.

Yibo turns his head away in order to get a better look at Xiao Zhan. His stomach drops when he sees the other three have pushed him down onto his knees, one of them holding their gun to the back of his head. 

Taking a deep breath, Yibo tries to calm himself, knowing that one wrong move could take Xiao Zhan from him.

The first shot that rings out is nearly deafening, and if Yibo were in a different state of mind he might take the time to consider how thankful he is for the quality of the soundproofing in their apartment. 

Instead, he takes the short cover opportunity he has with the man who is pressed up against him - now, because he’s listing forward due to the bullet that’s been shot through his stomach - in order to shoot the one that has his gun up to Xiao Zhan’s head. 

He only has time to register the bullet going through the man’s neck before kicking the one on top of him away, and points the gun Yibo had taken from Xiao Zhan’s holster earlier at the man closest to Xiao Zhan. 

That one, he’s able to get a clean headshot on. 

The fourth man dives backward into the living room and Yibo makes his way toward him, only pausing when Xiao Zhan shouts his name.

Yibo spins around at the same time as the sound of another shot goes off. The first man, who he’d gotten in the stomach, now has a bullet straight between the eyes, the gun he’d been holding slides out of his now slackened grip.

He turns to see Xiao Zhan lying sideways on the floor, the gun of the man with blood streaming from his neck in his hand, unwavering gaze still on his kill.

“Zhan-ge,” Yibo says, walking toward his husband, reaching out to help him stand. “Are you-”

His words are cut off as he feels himself being tugged violently backward by his hair. 

An arm wraps tight around his neck and a barrel of a gun is pressed against his cheek.

“Let him go,” Xiao Zhan says, voice shaky with his heavy breathing.

He’s standing, at least, with his gun trained on Yibo and the man who is holding him.

The man chuckles and squeezes his arm just a little tighter around Yibo’s throat.

“Bai Zhucheng likes them feisty, but you might be more than he’s willing to take on,” the man says to Yibo, seemingly ignoring Xiao Zhan if not for the fact that he keeps backing them up for every step Xiao Zhan takes forward.

“Get your hands off him,” Xiao Zhan demands through his teeth.

“You’ve been holding out on us, Xiao xiānshēng,” the man says, finally addressing Xiao Zhan’s presence. “Your sweet little bride isn’t quite as innocent as you’d have us all believe, is he?”

Yibo tries to meet Xiao Zhan’s eyes, but his gaze is stuck on the man behind him.

“I’ll give you to the count of three.”

“Or what? You gonna shoot me and risk hitting your beloved here? I don’t think so, Xiao xiānshēng. I don’t think you’ll risk that.”

Yibo would really like to be able to give Xiao Zhan a signal or something, but his husband is too focused, so he takes the chance. He grabs the man’s wrist, twisting it backward, away from his face then brings his other arm up to slam his elbow into the man’s nose. 

As soon as the hold around his neck has been loosened, Yibo dives out of the way. 

He turns just in time to see the man fall as Xiao Zhan shoots the arm that is holding his gun. Yibo runs to pick up the fallen gun as it slides across the floor.

Instead of shooting the man again, Xiao Zhan stalks his way over to him, turns the gun over in his hand and brings the butt of the gun down onto the man’s skull with a loud crack.

Yibo stops moving as Xiao Zhan slams the gun into the man’s face over and over again. He keeps going until grunts turn to choked off gurgles that then turn into only the sound of metal meeting blood and bone.

He is finally able to shake himself out of his stupor when he realizes the man is dead and his husband hasn’t slowed his hits, despite his face being covered with sweat and blood.

Slowly, Yibo reaches out to grab Xiao Zhan’s arm, worried that he’ll accidentally get caught in the crossfire of his rage.

“Zhan-ge,” he tries, but Xiao Zhan doesn’t hear him, just keeps hitting what is no longer recognizable as a face. 

He steels himself, ready for a fight, before he grabs both of Xiao Zhan’s arms.

“Zhan-ge, that’s enough,” he says louder, holding Xiao Zhan’s arms to slow their movements.

The gun falls from Xiao Zhan’s hand, but he quickly whips around in Yibo’s hold and Yibo braces himself for a hit that never comes. Instead, blood soaked hands come up to cup his face, softer than anything those hands have done in the past few minutes.

“Are you okay?” Xiao Zhan asks, nearly wheezing out his words as his chest rises and falls like a tidal wave.

Yibo nods. “I’m fine, Zhan-ge, are you?”

Xiao Zhan shakes his head, eyes zipping over Yibo’s face in something like a panic.

“You’re bleeding, where did they hit you?” he asks, hands roving over Yibo’s face, squeezing the flesh beneath his bloody hands.

If the amount of blood on Yibo’s face is anything close to what Xiao Zhan has, he’s sure he looks pretty bad.

“Not me,” Yibo assures him. “Not mine, Zhan-ge, I’m okay, I’m okay.”

Xiao Zhan just shakes his head again, holding him tighter, eyes looking no less wild and Yibo is genuinely worried he’s going to start beating the dead body again.

So, he takes one of the hands that is squeezing his cheeks and brings it down to rest against his throat. He moves two of Xiao Zhan’s fingers along the hollow then up until he’s sure Xiao Zhan can feel Yibo’s racing pulse beneath his skin.

“I’m okay,” he says again, holding Xiao Zhan’s hand in place, hoping the rapid, but steady rhythm of his heart calms him.

After a few seconds, the fire in Xiao Zhan’s eyes begins to fade and a wave of relief washes through Yibo.

Xiao Zhan holds his fingers to Yibo’s pulse for another minute before he sags forward, letting his forehead rest against Yibo’s shoulder. 

With one hand, Yibo cards his fingers through Xiao Zhan’s hair, with the other, he reaches for Xiao Zhan’s phone and hits the alert button to the guard they have downstairs.

Yibo tries not to think too hard about how things might have gone differently if he’d grabbed Xiao Zhan’s phone instead of his gun earlier.

Yanyan bursts through the door within the next minute and Xiao Zhan whirls around at the noise, but Yibo holds him tight. 

Seeing the familiar face, Xiao Zhan relaxes once again, and gathers Yibo back into his arms.

Yibo and Yanyan’s eyes meet over Xiao Zhan’s shoulder. The shock on Yanyan’s face as he takes in the mangled body is understandable, it looks pretty bad from where Yibo is kneeling, he’s sure it looks even worse from where Yanyan is standing.

“Call...call Ayanga and Yixing-ge and-and uh Peng Chuyue,” Yibo tells Yanyan, voice shaking as he thinks through what all they’ll need to do now. “And, I haven’t cleared the rest of the apartment. It’s-it’s probably fine, but you should do that.”

Yanyan nods, pulling out his phone and turns to walk to their room to make sure no one else is waiting to ambush them.

Yixing is able to convince Xiao Zhan to let Yibo off of the floor. Even still, it’s only to move to the kitchen table so they can talk, and Xiao Zhan holds Yibo in his lap with seemingly no plans to release his grip on Yibo for the rest of the night.

He’s at least clear headed enough to engage in the planning. 

It’s Xiao Zhan’s idea to leave the body of the man he’d beaten to death in front of Bai Zhucheng’s door. He wants to send a message to Bai Zhucheng and anyone else paying attention. 

“Nobody touches him.”

Yixing and Peng Chuyue share a look then meet Yibo’s eye for a moment. Yibo nods to let them know everything will be fine.

It takes the cleaners less time to deal with the blood and the bodies than it does for them to decide on what they have in store for Bai Zhucheng. 

It’s barely past one in the morning by the time they are left alone to clean themselves up and go to bed, their night having gone much differently than either had planned when they’d first gotten home. 

Even in sleep, Xiao Zhan refuses to let him go.

\-------

Xiao Zhan isn’t sure what has pulled him from unconsciousness, until he notices the absence of a warm body in his arms. 

He blinks away the blur in his eyes just in time to see Yibo slip out of the room. Looking over at the clock tells him they’ve only been asleep for an hour and a half.

Slowly, and as quietly as he can, Xiao Zhan extracts himself from the bed and follows Yibo out of the room.

He’s not sure if it’s the dark of the apartment, or if the cleaners are just that good, but as he passes the living room he notes that if he hadn’t been there, he’d never guess what had happened only a few hours earlier.

He finds Yibo in the kitchen.

The lights haven’t been turned on, but the glow from the oven light illuminates the room enough that Xiao Zhan can see a full glass of water on the counter and the silhouette of his husband’s back. 

Even without light, the shaking of Yibo’s shoulders as he cries silently is unmistakable. 

The need to reach out and hold him might be even greater than what he’d felt earlier, when he’d been unsure of whether Yibo had been shot or not. But the knowledge that he’s the reason for Yibo’s tears keeps him rooted in place. 

He can only stand to watch for a few seconds before he has to speak.

“I’m so sorry, _tiánxīn_ ,” he whispers, afraid to say anything louder, afraid he has no right to even say that much.

Yibo quickly wheels around, wiping furiously at his eyes. Xiao Zhan wants to tell him not to do that, not to hide this from him.

“I...Zhan-ge, I-” Yibo tries but is only able to hold the tears back for another moment before they burst from him again.

Xiao Zhan can’t stop himself from stepping into the kitchen and letting Yibo collapse into him. 

He’s both relieved that Yibo isn’t pushing him off, and also vaguely disgusted with himself that he’s taking Yibo’s obvious distress, and the need to be comforted, as some kind of passive acceptance of Xiao Zhan’s behavior, as well as the life he’s been thrown into because of Xiao Zhan.

It’s not the first time that Xiao Zhan has had to face the reality of how much Yibo has to put himself through just for Xiao Zhan’s sake. It makes him sick to his stomach some days. When Yibo had offered himself up to Qián Huíshùn just so that Xiao Zhan could enact his revenge, Xiao Zhan had nearly folded from the worry and guilt then, he hadn’t thought it was possible to feel worse than he had, using Yibo that way. 

Now, he knows there is in fact something worse than allowing Yibo to let himself be used as a pawn just for Xiao Zhan, and that is to see real fear in Yibo’s eyes, directed at Xiao Zhan, _because_ of Xiao Zhan.

That there had even been one iota of a second that Yibo had believed that Xiao Zhan, in his unhinged anger, might take it out on him as well, will haunt him for years.

Still, he holds Yibo close as sobs rack through his chest, hoping that even though it’s his arms, they are providing Yibo with the comfort he needs.

“I’m so sorry I scared you, _ài ren_ ,” he says, pressing his lips to Yibo’s forehead.

Yibo’s tears slow and he looks up at Xiao Zhan with confused, watery eyes.

“W-what?” he asks through a hiccup.

“I will never hurt you,” he promises. “But, whatever you want, just tell me. If you want me to leave, I will.”

Yibo doesn’t look any less upset, in fact, the look in his eyes only seems more unsettled now.

“Don’t leave me. Zhan-ge, I’m sorry, please don’t leave me. Please, I’m sorry, I’m _sorry_.”

The desperate grip Yibo has on Xiao Zhan’s arms is the only reason he doesn’t drop his own hold. 

Somehow, the sick feeling in his stomach, that he’d originally thought couldn’t get worse, just has, with Yibo apparently thinking he needs to apologize to him.

He grips Yibo’s face between his hands, making sure Yibo is looking him in the eye as he speaks.

“Never, ever apologize to me,” he says, as forcefully as he can without coming across as scolding. “You have done nothing wrong, _tiánxīn_ , okay?”

Yibo shakes his head, as much as he can in Xiao Zhan’s grip, and Xiao Zhan just holds him a little bit tighter, soft cheeks giving way beneath his palms, as he tries to keep Yibo from disagreeing with his very true statement.

“I scared you, and I know I could never hurt you, but that you thought I could is more than you should ever have to. I’m so, so sorry. Please don’t apologize to me for anything.”

Yibo blinks away a few more tears, eyes narrowing in confusion.

“I-I _am_ scared,” Yibo admits, and Xiao Zhan’s heart sinks into his stomach. Yibo’s tight grip on him is the only thing that keeps him from stepping backward.

“Zhan-ge, I’m _scared_ because all I want to do is protect you, and I can’t even do that.”

Xiao Zhan studies Yibo’s face, as he tries to digest his words. 

“You did though.”

Yibo shakes his head.

“No, Yibo, you _did_. If you hadn’t been here, they definitely would have killed me. I don’t even think Luo Shuǐxi could have taken them down as well as you did.”

Yibo shakes his head again.

“They wouldn’t have even _been_ here if it wasn’t for me,” Yibo nearly yells. “Didn’t you hear what that guy said? Bai Zhucheng didn’t care about you, they only wanted to kill you so they could take me. They targeted you because of _me_.”

Xiao Zhan grabs Yibo’s shaking hands, his eyes are on the verge of spilling more tears.

“T-this whole thing was supposed to be to _protect_ you, not put a different target on your back. Y-you-” Yibo isn’t able to get anything else out before sobs rip through him again. 

Xiao Zhan doesn’t hesitate to pull him in closer this time. He rubs at Yibo’s back and kisses his hair over and over until Yibo settles down again, enough to hear it when Xiao Zhan speaks, at least.

“These people, they would have come after me eventually for some reason, no matter what,” he says, drawing Yibo’s chin up so that he can look him in the eye. “The fact that they came for you is why we had an edge over them. It’s like you said when you proposed, they weren’t expecting you, that’s why we’re here and they’re not.”

Yibo tries to look away but Xiao Zhan just tightens his hold on Yibo’s chin.

“I don’t regret our decision for a second. I don’t care if everyone in the world wants me dead, as long as I can have you,” he says, ignoring the way Yibo is shaking his head. “No one is going to take you away from me. Not even you.”

Yibo blinks up at him.

“If it’s to protect me,” Xiao Zhan quickly amends, realizing how possessive he sounds, when only a few moments earlier he’d been offering to leave for Yibo’s sake, to say he won’t less than ten minutes later wouldn’t be great in terms of honoring his husband’s needs.

The truth is, now that he has him, Xiao Zhan has no desire to let Yibo go. He never wants Yibo to feel stuck or unhappy, but he can only hope that Yibo never actually wants to leave, so that he never has to know the person he might become in reaction to that choice. Not against Yibo though, never against Yibo.

Yibo will never have to be scared of Xiao Zhan.

It’s the rest of the world that should be.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Just a heads up, I will be posting another installment to this series next week. And there will finally be some actual sex scenes. I can actually promise that because they've already been written!
> 
> Content Warning for this fic:
> 
> -Xiao Zhan beats a man and continues on long past the man's death  
> -Yibo is threatened with sexual assault  
> -Yibo and Xiao Zhan shoot and kill people  
> -The issue of domestic violence is referenced, none happens in the fic and the person worrying about it believes they would be the one committing the violence (aka Yibo is not being abused or fearing that he will be abused, XZ just worries that Yibo is afraid of that, which he is not)
> 
> Please let me know if there is anything I did not tag properly!


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